School Behaviour Management: Building Partnerships

Professional development in behaviour management for teachers in public schools in Australia can best be described as ad hoc. While some schools access professional expertise on a regular basis, other schools rarely utilise these resources. Teachers as a result, tend to feel powerless, less confident and stressed if not equipped with effective behaviour management strategies to exercise in their classrooms (Richmond, 2002). The value of the delivery of any professional development session can be gauged by the relevance it has to a particular context. A key feature of many Behaviour Management professional development activities is the passive involvement of schools in determining the focus of these sessions. Whilst it is important that schools and teachers are kept abreast of contemporary innovation and emerging trends in the education sector, it is equally important that teachers are provided with the opportunity to provide input into the content of their own professional development. This paper will report on a 'work-in-progress' Action Research project developed by the University of New England. The project involved the design, implementation, delivery and evaluation of a behaviour management seminar / workshop series to a NSW public schools. The project had a phased delivery and review structure aimed at presenting teachers and administrators with practical and strategic guidance to achieve positive behavioural outcomes for their students.